This morning we had the opportunity to talk with a large financial services company interested in setting up a private research community with a targeted audience of customers.  As we talked about their goals in setting up an ongoing research community, a member of the company's research team asked us where an online research community fits in the "continuum between an online focus group and a 'true' online community." 

His thinking was that an online focus group is a heavily moderated environment with far less emphasis on user generated discussions, while a "true" online community (as he deemed it) was initiated entirely by the community members with very little or no moderation on the part of a third party.  I'll admit - I had never really thought about research communities in this way and think his assessment of the landscape is right on.  After the meeting was over, I got to thinking about where exactly a research community fits in this spectrum...

The heavily facilitated environment of an online focus group

As he noted, the environment in an online focus group does tend to be heavily facilitated, with far more of an emphasis on the role of the moderator in guiding the group and discussions that center almost entirely around the objectives of the company sponsoring the research.  Depending on a company's objectives, that is often sufficient.  It also provides answers to a research question fairly quickly.  However, it leaves open the possibility that the participants had topics or ideas to discuss that may not have been covered in the moderator's guide...

The open environment in a "true" online community

The other end of the spectrum is what he dubbed a "true" online community, where members are congregating around a shared purpose and creating the community on their own accord.  While natural leadership roles may emerge among members, it's not "managed" in the sense that a focus group is.  The advantage to this environment is that it serves as a fairly natural venue to listen to what is "top of mind" among members.  The disadvantage is that members may or may not get around to discussing topics of interest to an organization, and that the audience in the community may not represent a target segment.   

So where does an online research community fit in?

Online research communities tend to fall somewhere in this spectrum, leaning slightly more toward the carefully managed focus group environment.  The key is to build a community environment that fosters a combination of direct questioning and careful listening.  It's what that we sometimes to refer to as "push/pull" research.  On the one hand, you're "pushing" targeted activities out to the community, while creating an environment that encourages sharing and "pulling" out ideas and insights. 

This is one of the areas that fundamentally makes a research community different from a conventional "online community."  It's the combination of a heavily facilitated research tool with a more "authentic" venue to listen to customer needs that makes research communities unique.